Newcastle's Mitrovic tames Wolves, Howson grabs the spotlight

Newcastle remain top of the Championship thanks to a narrow 1-0 win away to Wolves on Saturday, as Brighton and Huddersfield Town kept pace at the top.

Aleksandar Mitrovic struck in the 44th minute of the late kick-off at Molineux to seal all three points for Rafael Benitez's side, who finished the weekend's action one point clear in first place, having temporarily fallen behind Brighton, who dispatched Burton Albion 4-1 at home earlier in the day. 

Huddersfield are third, six points behind Brighton, following their 2-1 victory at QPR. 

Among the other teams in the play-off places, fourth-placed Reading were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Barnsley and Leeds United suffered a potentially damaging 2-0 loss at the hands of visiting Cardiff City.

HOWSON THUNDERBOLT SPARKS FOREST FIRE

Jonny Howson's sensational volley in the 10th minute at Carrow Road was the first of three goals in the space of eight minutes, as hapless Nottingham Forest lost 5-1 away to promotion-chasing Norwich City.

The Canaries are seventh following the victory, two points adrift of sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday.

BRISTOL CITY BUCKLE AS RAMS RALLY

On the fringes of the play-offs, Derby County could ill-afford to miss out on maximum points at home to struggling Bristol City, but they were fortunate to escape a surprise defeat after falling 3-0 behind by the 38th minute at Pride Park.

A Darren Bent brace and Tom Ince's goal saw Steve McClaren's team snatch a 3-3 draw and demonstrate the vulnerability of the relegation-threatened visitors.

CHASING PACK MAKE NO MISTAKE

Fulham are just one point behind Derby in ninth spot after Neeskens Kebano's 90th-minute winner sealed a 3-2 comeback victory over Wigan Athletic, while Preston North End downed Brentford 4-2 and Ipswich Town won 1-0 at Aston Villa. At the wrong end of the table, last-placed Rotherham drew 1-1 with third-bottom Blackburn Rovers.